
Kākā spread their wings, trade sanctuary for urban living
Telling people you have seen a flying pig is probably not a good idea.
But if you have seen an endangered kākā flying around the Dunedin CBD lately, you are not going crazy.
A Dunedin resident living near the Kensington Oval said she got a hell of a fright a couple of days ago when the native parrot flew into her lounge window.
"It was spread-eagled against the window.
"And the dog went crazy.
"Then it flew into the tree and sat there for a while, like right outside our window.
"It was amazing. And then it flew away."
She said it returned again yesterday.
"It was sitting in the apple tree, just having a big munch on a Granny Smith. It loved it.
"It didn't seem to be bothered that we were there."
It had also been eating wild banana passionfruit from a vine in the area.
She had since notified the Department of Conservation and the Orokonui Ecosanctuary of the sighting, and the ecosanctuary had advised her not to feed it, or even give it sugar water.
"They said if we gave it sugar water, we were in danger of giving it a bacterial infection, and we should just leave it be."
Kākā are skilled at finding food in spaces that are healthy for them, but they are curious and can be harmed by encounters with foreign foods, objects and predatory species.
Ecosanctuary staff urged Dunedin residents to support the parrots by not offering food or sugar water; avoiding socialising with them; keeping pets inside; engaging in habitat regeneration of native plants; and improving predator control such as traps for rats, stoats, ferrets and weasels.
Ecosanctuary operations manager Elton Smith said her report was one of many about kākā flying around the greater Dunedin area in recent weeks.
"We have been aware of at least one kākā flying around in the city for the past three weeks or so.
"There's also been kākā seen in Mosgiel, Warrington, Waitati — those sort of areas."
The kākā was "guaranteed" to be from the Orokonui Ecosanctuary.
They could fly up to 20km in a day, and he believed it was part of a natural dispersal, where the birds left the ecosanctuary to find their own space.
"At Orokonui, we're probably reaching our capacity in terms of kākā," Mr Smith said.
"So the ones we do have are now establishing themselves outside the sanctuary — they're getting around, looking for new territory.
"There's only so many kākā we can have inside, and in order to have a large, robust kākā population, they do need to establish outside the sanctuary.
"There are more and more observations from the general public that would suggest that's what's happening.
"And there's been good evidence to show that they have been breeding on the outside, too."
Mr Smith was delighted to see they were surviving on their own, outside the boundaries of the ecosanctuary.
"It is really good news. It's a sign that the population is increasing."
He believed they would become a much more frequent sight around the Dunedin area in coming years, as the outside population grew.
"It should be like what's happened in Wellington.
"They started off in a sanctuary, and now they're very common, all throughout Wellington and beyond."
john.lewis@odt.co.nz

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
Concern 1080 will lower deer numbers
The use of 1080 poison where white tailed deer live could severely reduce the numbers of the "iconic" game animal, a hunting advocate says. New Zealand Game Animal Council chief executive Corina Jordan has recently returned from a trip to Stewart Island/Rakiura, where she talked to community members about the recent Department of Conservation aerial 1080 operation. The operation is part of a plan to save the endangered southern dotterel (pukunui) that is being preyed upon by wild cats. In phase one of the operation, 1080 bait with and without deer repellant was dropped on about 6500ha, earlier this month. Phase two of the operation will cover about 40,000ha and is scheduled to start next month. About five days after the drop, three dead white tailed deer were found with 1080 pellets in their stomachs in a hunting block where deer repellant had been used. Miss Jordan said if plans to remove predators from the whole island went ahead in 2026, the deer would not be wiped out, but their numbers would be significantly reduced. "That would put a stop to hunting on the island for quite a substantial period. "Hunters aren't going to want to visit an island that's been impacted by intrusive predator control." This would also affect the economy of the island, she said. While the council supported predator control and conservation, the use of the poison in areas where deer lived was concerning. The poison was not "authorised to be used to control deer". "It's inhumane. "There's animal health or well-being issues using 1080 on deer." The island's white tailed deer were special in that it was only one of two small wild populations. "It provides an outstanding hunting opportunity." Many people made an annual trip to the island to shoot the deer, which were not easy to hunt. "They're really intelligent and they're quite secretive." White tailed venison was also prized. "The meat in relation to quality, taste and texture is arguably some of the best." New Zealanders needed to have a "courageous conversation" about the use of 1080 to kill predators in areas where deer live and whether deer repellant should be used in the bait, she said. There was little research done on how white tailed deer responded to bait with deer repellant added. However, Sika deer research showed 10% died when deer repellant was used and 70-80% died where no repellant was used. The council was in favour of managing the resource, which had happened with Fiordland's wapiti deer population. "You can have quite substantial conservation outcomes while maintaining the hunting resource." After the discovery of the three dead deer on the island last week, ZIP operations director Duncan Kay said the operation was an opportunity to measure the effectiveness of deer repellant in reducing the impact of 1080 on white tailed deer. "It is acknowledged that deer repellent is unlikely to prevent all deer deaths."


Otago Daily Times
2 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Protection wanted for white-tailed deer
A hunting lobby group wants white-tailed deer classed as a herd of special interest as pressure goes on their existence in the South. The status of both white-tailed deer and wapiti were hot topics at the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association's annual meeting in Invercargill last weekend. Association president Callum Sheridan said there was a lot of interest in the herds of special interest (Hosi) because 1080 poisoning operations on Stewart Island/Rakiura were threatening the geographically isolated white-tailed herds. The Department of Conservation website says the department administers 44 designated hunting blocks where the white-tailed deer live on Stewart Island. Herds were also established at the head of Lake Wakatipu: the two South Island locations are home to the only herds in the southern hemisphere. Mr Sheridan said aerial 1080 poisoning was a big problem. "Obviously Rakiura is going to be hammered, so that's really going to impact the white herd. They're a lot more susceptible to poison than other species." While it was illegal to kill deer with 1080 poison, they did die as a result of by-kill, he said. He would like protections and herd management established for white-tail deer similar to those the wapiti species had. But a dedicated white-tail foundation needed to be established as well as it being officially recognised as a Hosi. "There is quite a lot of economic value to our deer herds and white-tails [are] one of them." International hunters came specifically to hunt the species, also known as the "grey ghost". "New Zealand's like the last frontier place that you can come and hunt without too much restriction. "There's a lot of spending that goes on, especially from overseas ... all sorts of numbers bandied about over the years, right up to about $180 million. "Every time somebody goes hunting, they're spending some form of money ... whether it's buying ammunition, gear or food, or just spending money at the petrol station to get there." Any sort of game animal was also a resource for people to be able to feed themselves, he said. Conference guest speaker Hunting and Fishing Minister James Meager said he believed hunters were among the nation's greatest conservation tools as they were in the bush daily maintaining tracks, huts and animal populations. Hunters had support from the government for their work and he was supporting new legislation to recognise Hosi, he said. Submissions on making wapiti a herd of special interest closed yesterday.

RNZ News
3 days ago
- RNZ News
Department of Conservation cutting 71 roles to modernise the government agency
File photo. Photo: RNZ/ Nick Monro The Department of Conservation is cutting 71 roles in an effort it says to modernise the government agency. The announcement was a result of a change process released in May which originally pitched axing 84 jobs. The agency would disestablish 143 administrative and assistant roles and create 72 new ones which would result in a net loss of 71 jobs. Of the new jobs 25 would be part time. DOC's deputy director-general of organisation support, Mike Tully said the decisions weren't made lightly but are needed to modernise and operate sustainably. "This review is about making DOC work better. DOC needs to change the way we work to make everyday tasks easier, balancing our needs with the various challenges we face." Tully said the changes were part of an organisation-wide shift towards self-service, taking advantage of new technology and improved systems and processes being introduced at DOC this year. "The new systems will be more efficient and easier to use, which means more time spent on conservation and less on admin." PSA National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said that the removal of staff that monitored radios posed health and safety risks. "The current support staff have sizeable health and safety responsibilities, such as monitoring staff radio systems and helping to manage emergencies like fires. "The loss of these team members will mean that these important duties will fall on others - and pose a significant health and safety risk." Fitzsimons said that making 25 roles part time would be a blow workers who cannot make ends meet on a part time salary, and who in small towns would struggle to find other work. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.